A professional land surveyor, owed over €22,000 for services carried out at Mount Carmel Hospital Campus, has taken the matter to court after learning that a fresh call for surveying services is in the offing while the sum owed to him remains unsettled.
The issue revolved around a tender issued by the Central Procurement and Supplies Unit (CPSU) for the Provision of Topographical Survey Services for Mount Carmel Hospital Campus that was awarded to Christopher Cassar.
The successful bidder carried out the requested works in line with the terms of reference in a detailed and accurate manner.
Besides carrying out the works specified in the contract, Cassar was subsequently asked to perform additional tasks by the Foundation for Medical Services.
Those additional works reflected “shifting goalposts” stemming from a lack of a clear direction which in turn appeared to indicate diverse or conflicting views among those involved, argued Cassar in a judicial protest filed before the First Hall, Civil Court.
His services had been extended to the main road beyond the campus right up to the roundabout outside, and that area fell beyond the scope of the original tender and the contract signed by the parties.
In June 2022, the surveyor submitted an invoice for €11,500 plus €2,070 in VAT.
The following month he presented another invoice for €7,300 plus €1314 in VAT.
One year later, the total amount of €22,184 was still pending and the foundation had come up with a “totally hazy and feeble argument, or rather excuse, not to pay”, protested Cassar’s lawyers.
More recently, after getting to know that another call for surveying works at Mount Carmel Hospital Campus was in the offing, Cassar warned the Foundation and the CPSU that until the amount due to him was settled, he would retain the rights over those surveys which he had prepared.
His services included drawings and digital data in terms of the ‘Deliverables’ section of the tender.
Despite calling upon the authorities to settle this issue through arbitration rather than having to resort to judicial proceedings, the surveyor’s request to that effect was completely ignored.
Now Cassar is claiming that such “arbitrary and abusive” behaviour by the Foundation and the CPSU has caused him financial damages.
They would be held responsible for all past, present and possible future damages, warned his lawyers, Michael Tanti-Dougall and Mattea Tanti-Dougall, who signed the judicial protest.